Game Recap 6/10: Aeros Win Steak Continues

Aeros Hold On Late, Win 10th Straight 4-3

The streaking Aeros won yet again Thursday at Canal Park, overcoming a furious late-inning comeback by the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to win for the 10th consecutive game. Akron lefty starter Eric Berger continued his solid pitching of late in front of the 3,133 fans in attendance and even had a no-hitter through 6.1 innings. The Aeros (30-30) moved into a three-way tie for second-place in the Western Division of the Eastern League and are now at .500 for the first time since April 17th. The series sweep was also the first against the EL-leading Fisher Cats (36-25) this season.

The Akron offense pounced on New Hampshire starter and highly touted prospect Kyle Drabek in the very first inning. Hot-hitting designated hitter Lonnie Chisenhall stepped to the plate with two outs and blasted the first offering from Drabek deep into the right field bleachers to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead.

Berger cruised against the Cats throughout as an impressive 3-6-3 double play negated a leadoff walk in the top of the second. First baseman Matt McBride followed his solid defense with a leadoff single down the left field line to start an Aeros rally in the fourth. Right fielder Jerad Head then doubled right to a diving Darrin Mastroianni in center and shortstop Carlos Rivero made it 2-0 by scoring McBride with an RBI groundout.

New Hampshire third baseman Shawn Bowman finally broke up Berger’s no-hitter with a one-out double in the sixth and Akron reliever Connor Graham relieved Berger later that frame. He faced major trouble against the Fisher Cats in the eighth inning as a pair of walks, a hit pitch and a costly error led to an unearned run and a 2-1 ball game.

With momentum on their side, New Hampshire substituted reliever Vince Bongiovanni into the game in the bottom of that eighth. He promptly allowed a one-out bunt single to Head who stole second and Rivero followed with a huge RBI triple to dead center to make it a two-run lead. Drennen then delivered a sacrifice fly to provide the final Akron run.

The Fisher Cats then gave the Aeros a mighty scare in the ninth because of back-to-back one-out walks by reliever Omar Aguilar. Manny Mayorson then lined a run-scoring single to left and two batters later, Danny Perales hit a grounder up the middle to cut the deficit to just 4-3. Steven Wright entered the game as another new Akron reliever and finally forced Mastroianni to fly out, ending the comeback and preserving the winning streak.

Berger improved to 3-4 with his solid performance, striking out seven in 6.2 shutout innings while allowing just the single hit and three walks. Drabek (7-5) took the loss and Wright earned his second save. Akron starters delivered 19.2 innings with no earned runs in the series as the ninth inning runs were the first two recorded by New Hampshire.

Chisenhall’s homer was his fourth of the season with all four coming in the past 12 games since returning from a right shoulder injury on May 28th. Rivero’s clutch triple was his first of the season and the Aeros finished just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Red Wings outlast Clippers, 10-9

The Clippers worked hard to get the lead Thursday night, but Rochester took it back in a big sixth inning and then held on for a wild 10-9 win at Huntington Park.

Clippers starter Jeanmar Gomez gave up home runs to Brian Dinkelman (a solo shot in the first), Matt Macri (a three-run blast in the third) and Dustin Martin (a two run dinger in the sixth), the last of which gave the Red Wings the lead for good.

The Clippers were able to battle back with two runs in the third to erase a two-run deficit. Then Columbus put a four-spot on the board in the fifth, to erase a 5-2 deficit and take a brief lead. That inning was highlighted by Josh Rodriguez' third home run of the season.

But Martin's blast in the sixth was part of a five-run frame that chased Gomez and saw reliever Jess Todd relinquish two doubles and a triple, giving Rochester a 10-6 lead.

Columbus again fought back in the bottom half of that frame, getting a two-run no-doubt home run from Carlos Santana, over the netting behind the pavilion in right field, and a solo shot from Matt LaPorta (his fourth home run in two games). That was as close as the hosts would get, however, as they could only generate one hit over the final three frames.

Despite giving up four runs in less than two innings of work, Red Wings' reliever Rob Delaney (6-3) picked up the win and Anthony Slama earned the save (13). Gomez took the loss for Columbus to fall to 3-7.

Rodriguez had a four-hit night to pace the Clippers offensively, with Santana close behind thanks to a 3-for-4 night. Both players scored three runs.

Kinston Beats Myrtle Beach 4-2

T.J. McFarland captured his Carolina League leading seventh win of the season, as the K-Tribe beat Myrtle Beach 4-2 Thursday night at Historic Grainger Stadium. McFarland allowed just two runs on four hits in six innings. The league leader in ERA (2.16) walked two and struck out six. McFarland was named to the Carolina League All-Star Game earlier on Thursday.

Myrtle Beach struck first off the Kinston starter in the first inning. Mycal Jones singled and Travis Jones slammed a home run to deep left field to give the Pelicans a 2-0 lead.

Kinston's bats would break through off of the Pelicans' Julio Teheran, also named an All-Star on Wednesday, starting in the bottom of the third inning. After back-to-back hits by Jordan Henry and Karexon Sancez to start the frame, Kyle Bellows hit into a double play that scored Henry. In the fifth, Henry led off with a single and Sanchez hit a ground rule double to push Henry to third. Bellows was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Abner Abreu. On the first pitch, Abreu drilled an RBI single to center to score Henry and tie the game at 2. Doug Pickens would follow on the very next pitch with a line drive single to left that plated Sanchez and gave the K-Tribe a 3-2 lead. Pickens would give Kinston a big insurance run in this next at bat, when he singled home Sanchez in the bottom of the eighth inning. In six innings Teheran, the Atlanta Braves top pitching prospect, gave up three runs on nine hits, while walking one and striking out five. The top five in the K-Tribe order was outstanding, as Henry, Sanchez, Bellows, Abreu and Pickens combined for all eleven Kinston hits and all four runs. Sanchez was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, Pickens was 3-for-4 with two RBI.

The Indians bullpen would do the rest, as David Roberts, Chris Jones and Cory Burns combined for three innings of shutout work. Roberts and Jones picked up holds, as Cory Burns got his eighth save in eight attempts with the K-Tribe.

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